Deaf-Friendly Cricket Welcome from the National Deaf Children’s Society The National Deaf Children’s Society is the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people. Without the right support, deaf children face barriers to getting involved in sport and cricket. By reading this resource, you and your club can understand how to overcome some of these barriers and ensure that you can fully include deaf children in all your cricket activities. Welcome from the English Cricket Association for the Deaf (ECAD) ECAD welcomes the Deaf-Friendly Cricket resource. Deaf people often face a range of barriers to participating in sport and this resource will prove helpful in providing an environment that enables more deaf and hard of hearing people to enjoy the game of cricket at all levels. Chris Ratcliffe, Chairman England Cricket Association for the Deaf Welcome from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) The ECB is committed to working with NDCS in helping to get more deaf people involved in cricket. The ECB enjoys a good relationship with NDCS and wants to build on this and learn how cricket can tailor its offer so that those who wish can play, attend or follow cricket. This resource will give coaches, helpers and clubs valuable advice, guidance and confidence to welcome people to the game. Ken Kelly, Inclusion and Diversity Manager England and Wales Cricket Board 2 3 Contents Introduction 4 Understanding deafness 5 Impact of deafness 8 Hearing aids, cochlear implants and technology 10 Why is it important to support deaf young people? 12 Communication methods 14 How to communicate with deaf young people at your cricket club 15 Cricket-specific information 18 Cricket opportunities and the player pathway 19 What you can do next 21 Further resources 21 Training and workshops 21 Volunteers 21 Promotion 23 Useful contacts 25 Appendix 27 BSL for cricket illustrations 27 Fingerspelling 28 Communicating with deaf children: dos and don’ts 29 Please note: Within this booklet the word ‘deaf’ refers to all levels of hearing loss. Although this booklet refers to deaf children and young people, the majority of the information is just as relevant to deaf people of all ages. 3 Introduction Welcome to the Deaf-Friendly Cricket resource, produced by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) in partnership with the English Cricket Board (ECB) and the English Cricket Association for the Deaf (ECAD). NDCS manages the Me2 Deaf-Friendly project, which aims to break down the barriers deaf children and young people face when accessing sports, arts and leisure opportunities, by supporting deaf and mainstream organisations to be inclusive. NDCS works with cricket clubs across the country, including local village clubs and professional clubs, such as Surrey County Cricket Club. This resource aims to give support, ideas and guidance on how to include deaf young people in cricket activities. Deaf young people can achieve anything any other young person can and they have the same physical capabilities. By making small and simple changes you will be able to include deaf young people in your cricket sessions, matches, tours and any other activities. Although aimed specifically at deaf young people, you will find much of the information in this resource can be used with deaf people of all ages. By the end of the resource you should: • have an understanding of deafness and the barriers deaf young people face to participating in cricket • be aware of the different methods of communicating with deaf young people and the basic communication skills that are needed • understand practical adaptations you can make to support deaf young people • know the next steps you can take and where you can get further support to ensure your club is fully accessible and inclusive of deaf young people. With the right understanding and a positive attitude you can ensure that every deaf young person has the opportunity to take part in cricket. NDCS uses the word ‘deaf’ to refer to all levels of deafness, including temporary deafness such as glue ear. 4 5 Understanding deafness Types of deafness There are two main types of deafness. Sensori-neural deafness This is usually caused by the loss of or damage to the hair cells in the cochlea (a part of the inner ear), meaning that sound can’t be processed effectively. This type of deafness may be genetic (inherited) or caused by an illness or infection such as measles, mumps, rubella, cytomegalovirus (CMV) or meningitis. Sensori-neural deafness is permanent. Sensori-neural deafness in childhood is rare but research shows there are more than 45,000 deaf children living in the UK. A further four babies are born deaf every day. In adulthood sensori-neural deafness is very common, with about 1 in 6 of the population developing deafness later in life, often caused by noise damage or aging. Action on Hearing Loss (formerly known as RNID), estimate that there are approximately 10 million deaf or hard of hearing people in the UK. Conductive deafness This is the most common type of deafness in childhood and occurs when sound cannot pass through the outer and middle ear to the cochlea and auditory nerve in the inner ear. In children this is often caused by fluid building up in the middle ear (known as glue ear). Glue ear is very common, with 8 in 10 children experiencing a bout of it before the age of 10. Glue ear can cause temporary deafness and often clears up naturally after a short time. However, it can also develop into a long-term condition which requires the child to wear hearing aids or have surgical intervention such as grommets. Children with temporary deafness may still require specialist support. 5 Levels of deafness It is important to be aware that every individual’s experience of deafness is different and that levels of deafness vary. The definitions in the table below provide a simple way of understanding different levels of deafness. Level of Possible impact deafness Mild (21–40 Young people can usually hear everything that is said decibels (dB)) to them in a quiet room, but not if there is lots of noise present or they are far away from the person speaking. A young person would not be able to follow a whispered conversation. Some young people with mild deafness use hearing aids. A young person with glue ear will usually have mild deafness. Moderate Most people with moderate deafness use hearing aids. (41–70dB) Without their hearing aids, a young person could hear most of what someone says to them in a quiet room as long as they speak clearly. They could not follow a conversation in a large group if there is lots of background noise (as can often be the case in a sports environment) or if they are far away from the person speaking. Severe (71– Most young people with severe deafness use hearing 95dB) aids and most can follow spoken conversation with one person in a quiet room when using them. Even with hearing aids a young person may need additional support to follow speech in a group or when background noise is present. Without hearing aids a young person may not hear someone talking to them but may hear some other louder sounds, like a whistle or a fire alarm. Profound Most young people with profound deafness use either (95dB+) hearing aids or cochlear implants. Without hearing aids or cochlear implants a young person could not hear someone talking but may be able to feel very loud sounds like lorries passing in the street. Even with hearing aids or cochlear implants a young person may need additional support to follow speech in background noise and in groups. Some profoundly deaf young people will use signing as their main means of communication, and many others will use signing as a way to support their understanding of spoken communication. 6 7 The audiogram below is a visual representation of the loudness and pitch of a range of everyday sounds. It shows you how loud a sound has to be, and at what frequency, before a child can hear it. Frequency in Hertz (Hz) Low PITCH High 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000 -10 0 F 10 F L O R R Y F F 20 L O R R Y f th p s L O R R Y zv BUZZ h F g k BUZZ 30 L O R R Y BAND ch BUZZ sh BAND F BAND L O R R Y 40 j mdb BUZZ i n oar ngBAND L O R R Y 50 F BUZZ el u BUZZ BAND 60 L O R R Y BAND 70 BUZZ BAND F 80 F Hearing level in decibels (dB) L O R R Y F F 90 L O R R Y F F F F BUZZ BUZZ F F 100 L O R R Y L O R R Y BAND BAND L O R R Y L O R R Y L O R R Y L O R R Y Loud BUZZ BUZZ 110 L O R R Y L O R R Y profound severe moderate mild moderate severe profound BUZZ sounds BAND BAND BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BAND BUZZ 120 BAND BAND BUZZ BAND BAND BAND The above information has hopefully developed your understanding of the different levels and types of deafness. The above are very basic descriptions, which should help you recognise the hearing loss experienced by a deaf young person, but it is vital you do not assume anything.